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| A crazed, mass-murderer who has gone down in history as the worst terrorist the world has known. | |||
| {{redirect|Reagan}} | |||
| <!-- Before making major changes to the infobox or lead section, please review past discussions on the talk page (in the archives if not found on the main page) and start a discussion yourself, if you still plan on altering the sections. --> | |||
| {{Infobox_President | |||
| | name=Ronald Wilson Reagan | |||
| | nationality=American | |||
| | image=Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg | |||
| | imagesize = 185px | |||
| | order=40<sup>th</sup> ] | |||
| | vicepresident=] | |||
| | term_start=] ] | |||
| | term_end=] ] | |||
| | predecessor=] | |||
| | successor=] | |||
| | order2=33<sup>rd</sup> ] | |||
| | lieutenant2=] <br />(1967–1969) <br /> ] <br />(1969–1974) <br /> ] <br />(1974–1975) | |||
| | term_start2=] ] | |||
| | term_end2=] ] | |||
| | predecessor2=] | |||
| | successor2=] | |||
| | birth_date={{birth date|1911|2|6|mf=y}} | |||
| | birth_place=] | |||
| | death_date={{death date and age|2004|06|5|1911|02|6}} | |||
| | death_place=] | |||
| | spouse=(1) ] (married 1940, divorced 1948)<br/>(2) ] (married 1952) | |||
| | alma_mater=] | |||
| | occupation=] | |||
| | religion=] | |||
| | signature=Reagan signature.png | |||
| | party=] | |||
| }} | |||
| <!-- BEFORE MAKING CHANGES TO THE LEAD SECTION, PLEASE REVIEW PAST DISCUSSIONS ON THE TALK PAGE (in the archives if not found on the main page) AND START A DISCUSSION YOURSELF. Citations are NOT found in the lead, BUT ARE THROUGHLY CITED IN THE ARTICLE. --> | |||
| '''Ronald Wilson Reagan''' (], ] – ], ]) was the 40th ] (1981–1989) and the 33rd ] (1967–1975). Born in ], Reagan moved to ] in the 1930s, where he became an actor, president of the ] (SAG), and a spokesman for ]. His start in politics occurred during his work for GE; originally a member of the ], he switched to the ] in 1962. After delivering ] in support of ]'s presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the ] as well as ], but won both the nomination and election in ]. | |||
| As president, Reagan implemented new political initiatives as well as economic policies, advocating a '']'' philosophy, but the extent to which these ideas were implemented is debatable. The ] policies, dubbed "]," included ] implemented in 1981. After surviving an ] and ordering ] in ], he was ] in a landslide victory in 1984. | |||
| Reagan's second term was marked by the ending of the ], as well as a number of ], notably the ]. The president ordered a massive military buildup in an arms race with the ], foregoing the previous strategy of ]. He publicly portrayed the USSR as an "]" and ]. Despite his rejection of détente, he negotiated with ] ] to shrink both countries' nuclear arsenals. Reagan left office in 1989; in 1994 the former president ] that he had been diagnosed with ]. He ] at the age of ninety-three, and ranks ] among former U.S. presidents in terms of approval rating. | |||
| ==Early life== | |||
| ], ]]] | |||
| Ronald Reagan was born in an ] above the ] in ], ] on ], ] to John "Jack" Reagan and ].<ref name=nrhp/> As a boy, Reagan's father nicknamed him "Dutch", due to his "fat little Dutchman"-like appearance, and his "Dutchboy" haircut;<ref name="RRfacts">{{cite web |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/facts.html|title=Ronald Reagan Facts|accessdate= 2007-06-09|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation}}</ref> the nickname stuck with Ronald throughout his youth.<ref name="RRfacts"/> Reagan's family briefly lived in several Illinois towns, including ], ] and ], until 1919, when they returned to Tampico and lived above the ].<ref name=nrhp>Ward, Michael. "," (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, April 1, 1982, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 2007-07-27.</ref> After his election as president, residing in the upstairs White House private quarters, Reagan would quip that he was "living above the store again."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/06/reagan_all_american_dies_at_93/|title=Reagan, all-American, dies at 93|date=June 6, 2004|author=Schribman, David|work=The Boston Globe|accessdate=2008-01-17}}</ref> | |||
| According to ], author of ''God and Ronald Reagan'', Reagan had a particularly strong faith in the goodness of people, which stemmed from the optimistic faith of his mother, Nelle,<ref name="pk 16">Kengor, Paul (2004), p. 16 </ref> and the ] faith.<ref name="pk 16"/> For the time, Reagan was unusual in his opposition to racial discrimination, and recalled a time in ] when the local inn would not allow black people to stay there. Reagan brought them back to his house, where his mother invited them to stay the night and have breakfast the next morning.<ref>Kengor, Paul (2004), p. 15</ref> | |||
| Following the closure of the Pitney Store in late 1920, the Reagans moved to ];<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 2</ref> the midwestern "small universe" had a lasting impression on Ronald.<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 27</ref> He attended ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2007/spring/schoolhouse.html|title=School House to White House: The Education of the Presidents|accessdate=2007-12-30|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration}}</ref> where he developed interests in acting, sports, and storytelling.<ref name="cnn bio"/> His first job was as a lifeguard at the Rock River in Lowell Park, near Dixon, in 1926. "I saved 77 lives," Reagan said in an interview, and mentioned that he notched a mark on a wooden log for every life he saved.<ref name="cnn bio">"" CNN, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.</ref> After high school, Reagan attended ], where he was a member of the ] fraternity, majored in economics and sociology, and was very active in sports.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 9 </ref> | |||
| ==Entertainment career== | |||
| {{seealso|Ronald Reagan filmography}} | |||
| ===Radio and film=== | |||
| ] | |||
| After graduating from Eureka in 1932, Reagan worked at radio stations ] in ], and ] in ] as an announcer for ] baseball games.<ref>Wills, Gary (1987), pp. 109–110</ref> While traveling with the Cubs in California, Reagan took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with ] studios.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/biography/a_hero.asp|title=Biography > A Hero from the Heartland|accessdate=2007-12-30|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation}}</ref> His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie '']'', and by the end of 1939 he had already appeared in 19 films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/biography/hollywood_years.asp|title=Ronald Reagan > Hollywood Years|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation|accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> Before the film '']'' in 1940, he played the role of ] in the film '']''; from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper".<ref name="Cannon15">Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 15</ref> Reagan's favorite acting role was in 1942's '']'',<ref name="Rest of Me">{{cite book |last= Reagan |first= Ronald |title= Where's the Rest of Me? |year= 1965 |publisher= Duell, Sloan, and Pearce |location= New York}}</ref> but his performance did not meet with universal approval: one reviewer felt that Reagan had made "only casual acquaintance with the ".<ref>{{cite news|last=Crowther|first=Bosley |work=The New York Times|date=1942-02-03|url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=9903E2DE143BE33BBC4B53DFB4668389659EDE|title=The Screen; 'Kings Row,' With Ann Sheridan and Claude Rains, a Heavy, Rambling Film, Has Its First Showing Here at the Astor|accessdate=2007-03-29}}</ref> Reagan also acted in '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', '']'', and '']'' (his final film) in a 1964 remake.<ref name=imdb>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001654/|title=Ronald Reagan|accessdate=2007-12-30|publisher=Internet Movie Database}}</ref> | |||
| ===Military service=== | |||
| After completing fourteen home-study Army Extension Courses, Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/usar-history.htm|title=U.S. Army Reserve-History|accessdate=2007-12-30|publisher=Global Security.com}}</ref> on ] ], as a private assigned to Troop B, 322nd ] at ].<ref name= "Reagan in the Military"/> He was appointed ] in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on ] ], and on ] was assigned to the 323rd Cavalry.<ref name= "ACR Homepage">{{cite web|url=http://www.irwin.army.mil/Units/11TH+Armored+Cavalry+Regiment/11thACR/|publisher=11th Armored Cavalry Regiment|title=History of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment|accessdate= 2007-03-07}}</ref> | |||
| Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time on ] ]. Due to his nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas.<ref name="USSRR">{{cite web|url=http://www.reagan.navy.mil/about_reagan/ball_cap/ball_cap.htm|title=USS ''Ronald Reagan'': Significance of Horse and Rider|publisher=United States Navy|accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref> His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at ], California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office.<ref name="nat usaf"/> Upon the request of the ] (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on ] 1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in ].<ref name="nat usaf">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1660|title=President Ronald Reagan|accessdate=2007-12-30|publisher=National Museum of the United States Air Force}}</ref> On ] ] he was promoted to First Lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of ''This Is The Army'' at ].<ref name="nat usaf"/> He returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit after completing this duty and was promoted to Captain on ], ].<ref name= "Reagan in the Military"/> | |||
| In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in ] to participate in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit, Culver City, California on ] ], where he remained until the end of the ].<ref name= "Reagan in the Military"/> He was recommended for promotion to Major on ], 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on ] of that year.<ref name="ths">{{cite web|url=http://www.tampicohistoricalsociety.citymax.com/Ronald_Reagan_History_Tampico.html|title=Ronald Reagan 1911-2004|publisher=Tampico, Illinois Historical Society|accessdate=2007-12-30}}</ref> He returned to ], California, where he was separated from active duty on ] 1945.<ref name="ths"/> By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films for the AAF.<ref name= "Reagan in the Military">{{cite web|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/military.html|title=Military service of Ronald Reagan|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|accessdate=2007-06-22}}</ref> | |||
| ===Television and SAG president=== | |||
| ] | |||
| Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and moved to television as the host of '']'', earning approximately $125,000 per year ($800,000 in 2006 dollars), until he was fired by General Electric in 1962.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-214225|title=Reagan, Ronald|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|accessdate=2007-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/biography_pages/reagan/biography.html|title=Ronald Reagan 1911–2004|publisher=PBS|accessdate=2007-08-17}}</ref> His final work as a professional actor was as host and performer from 1964 to 1965 on the television series '']''.<ref name="imdb"/> | |||
| Reagan was first elected to the Board of Directors of the ] in 1941, serving as an alternate. Following World War II, he resumed service and became 3rd Vice president in 1946.<ref name="SAG">{{cite web|url=http://www.sag.org/history/presidents/reagan.html|title=Screen Actors Guild Presidents: Ronald Reagan|publisher=Screen Actors Guild|accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref> The adoption of conflict-of-interest bylaws in 1947 led the SAG president and six board members to resign; Reagan was nominated in a special election for the position of president and was elected.<ref name="SAG"/> He would subsequently be chosen by the membership to seven additional one-year terms, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959.<ref name="SAG"/> Reagan led SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the ], ] (HUAC) hearings and the ] era.<ref name="SAG"/> | |||
| In 1947, as SAG president, Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee regarding the influence of communists in the motion picture industry.<ref name="HUAC">{{cite web|url=http://www.twcnet.edu/cschutz/history-page/Consensus/Reagan-huac-testimony.html|accessdate=2007-12-30|title=House Un-American Activities Committee Testimony: Ronald Reagan|publisher=Tennessee Wesleyan College|date=October 23, 1947}}</ref> Strongly opposed to communism, he reaffirmed his commitment to democratic principles, stating, "As a citizen, I would hesitate to see any political party outlawed on the basis of its political ideology. However, if it is proven that an organization is an agent of foreign power, or in any way not a legitimate political party —and I think the government is capable of proving that—then that is another matter... But at the same time I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment."<ref name="HUAC"/> | |||
| ==Marriages and children== | |||
| ] aboard a boat in California in 1964]] | |||
| ===Jane Wyman=== | |||
| In 1938, Reagan co-starred in the film ''Brother Rat'' with actress ] (1917–2007). They were engaged at the ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9407E6DA1138F93BA35756C0A962948260 |title=Dispute Over Theatre Splits Chicago City Council|accessdate=2007-05-17|date=May 8, 1984|work=The New York Times}}</ref> and married on ], ], at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church in Forest Lawn, California.<ref>{{cite news|title=Locations Range From the Exotic to the Pristine|author=Oliver, Marilyn.|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=March 31, 1988|accessdate=2007-12-31}}</ref> Together they had two children, ] (1941–2001) and Christine (born and died ], ]), and adopted a third, ] (born 1945).<ref>{{cite web|title=Jane Wyman: Biography|url=http://www.jane-wyman.com/biography.html|accessdate=2007-12-31|publisher=JaneWyman.com}}</ref> Reagan and Wyman divorced on ], ] (finalized in 1949)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/movies/11wyman.html|title=Jane Wyman, 90, Star of Film and TV, Is Dead|date=September 11, 2007|accessdate=2007-12-31|work=The New York Times|author=Severo, Richard}}</ref> following arguments about Reagan's political ambitions,<ref name="Cannon15"/> making him the only American president to have been divorced.<ref>{{cite news|author=Slovick, Matt|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/features/dcmovies/americanpresident.htm|title=The American President|work=The Washington Post|accessdate=2007-12-31|date=1997}}</ref> | |||
| ===Nancy Davis=== | |||
| Reagan met actress ] (born 1921)<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/nancy_bio.asp|title=Nancy Reagan > Her Life & Times|accessdate=2007-10-29 |publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation}}</ref> in 1949 after Davis contacted then-president of the Screen Actors Guild Reagan to help her with issues regarding her name appearing on a communist blacklist in Hollywood (Davis was mistaken for another Nancy Davis). Nancy described their meeting by saying, "I don't know if it was exactly love at first sight, but it was pretty close."<ref name= "Love Story"/> They were engaged at ] restaurant in Los Angeles and were married on ], ] at the Little Brown Church in the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/nr40.html|title=Nancy Davis Reagan|accessdate=2008-01-13|publisher=The White House}}</ref> Ronald and Nancy Reagan had two children: ] (born 1952) and ] (born 1958). | |||
| Observers described Ronald and Nancy Reagan's relationship as close, real, and intimate.<ref>Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 296</ref> While president and first lady, the Reagans were reported to display their affection for each other frequently, with one press secretary noting, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting."<ref name= "Love Story"/><ref name="her own person"/> He often called her "Mommy"; she called him "Ronnie".<ref name="her own person">{{cite news|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usnanc063835985jun06,0,3872519.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines|title=By Reagan's Side, but her own person|accessdate=2007-08-15|work=Newsday|author=Berry, Deborah Barfield|date=June 6, 2004}}</ref> When the president was recuperating in the hospital after the assassination attempt in 1981, Nancy Reagan slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by the scent;<ref>Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 284</ref> in a letter to Mrs. Reagan, President Reagan wrote, "whatever I treasure and enjoy... all would be without meaning if I didn’t have you."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4201869/|title= Reagan Love Story|publisher=MSNBC|date=June 9, 2004|accessdate=2007-05-25}}</ref> In ] written in 1994, President Reagan wrote "I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with ]... I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience,"<ref name= "Love Story"/> and in 1998, while her husband was severely affected by Alzheimer's, Nancy told '']'', "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him."<ref name= "Love Story">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/265714.stm|title=End of a Love Story|publisher=BBC|date=June 5, 2004|accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> | |||
| ==Early political career== | |||
| A registered ] and admirer of ], Reagan supported the ] before shifting rightwards out of a desire for a more limited federal government, endorsing the presidential candidacies of ] in 1952 and 1956 as well as ] in 1960.<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 132</ref> Following the election of ], Reagan formally switched to the ] in 1962, saying "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me."<ref name="LA Times Obituary 2"/> During his work for General Electric, Reagan wrote his own speeches, laboring diligently and daily upon his prose. Although he had speechwriters later in the White House, he continued editing, and even occasionally writing, many of them.<ref>Rollyson, Carl E. (2006) American Biography. iUniverse. p. 197</ref> | |||
| Two years after switching parties, Reagan joined the campaign of conservative presidential contender ]. Speaking on Goldwater's behalf, Reagan revealed his ideological motivation in a famed speech given on ], ]: "The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government set out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/40_reagan/psources/ps_choose64.html|title=A Time for Choosing|publisher=PBS|accessdate=2007-04-17}}</ref> The address soon became known as the "]" speech, and is considered the speech that launched Reagan's political career.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 36</ref> | |||
| == Governor of California, 1967–1975 == | |||
| ] | |||
| California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma after his "Time for Choosing" speech,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.californiagovernors.ca.gov/h/biography/governor_33.html|title=Governor Ronald Reagan |publisher=California State Library|accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> and nominated him for ] in 1966. In Reagan's campaign, he emphasized two main themes: "to send the welfare bums back to work", and in reference to burgeoning anti-war and anti-establishment student protests at the ], "to clean up the mess at Berkeley".<ref>{{cite news|author=Kahn, Jeffery.|publisher=UC Berkeley News|date=June 8, 2004|title=Ronald Reagan launched political career using the Berkeley campus as a target|accessdate=2007-03-30|url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/06/08_reagan.shtml}}</ref> He was elected, defeating two-term governor ], and was sworn in on ], ]. In his first term, he froze government hiring and approved tax hikes to balance the budget.<ref>Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 47 </ref> | |||
| Shortly after the beginning of his term, Reagan tested the ] as part of a "Stop Nixon" movement, hoping to cut into Nixon's Southern support<ref name= "Stormy">Fischer, Klaus (2006), pp. 241-243</ref> and be a compromise candidate<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,899963,00.html|title=The New Rules of Play|work=Time|date=March 8, 1968|accessdate=2007-10-16}}</ref> if neither Nixon nor second-place ] received enough delegates to win on the first ballot at the ]. However, by the time of the convention Nixon had 692 delegate votes, 25 more than he needed to secure the nomination, followed by Rockefeller with Reagan in third place.<ref name="Stormy"/> | |||
| ] and First Lady ] in July 1970]] | |||
| Reagan was involved in high-profile conflicts with the protest movements of the era. On ], ], during the ] at UC Berkeley, Reagan sent the ] and other officers to quell the protests.<ref name="Cannon50">Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 50</ref> During these protests, the officers resorted to using firearms, shooting and killing a 25-year-old ] man and injuring hundreds of others, in an incident that became known as "Bloody Thursday."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904149,00.html|accessdate=2007-12-09|date=February 16, 1970|title=Postscript to People's Park|work=Time}}</ref><ref name="Cannon50"/> Reagan then called out 2,200 ] troops to occupy the city of Berkeley for two weeks in order to crack down on the protesters.<ref name="Cannon50"/> | |||
| Early in 1967, the national debate on abortion was beginning. Democratic California state senator ] introduced the "Therapeutic Abortion Act", in an effort to reduce the number of "back-room abortions" performed in California.<ref name="Cannon50"/> The State Legislature sent the bill to Reagan's desk where, after many days of indecision, he signed it.<ref name="Cannon51">Cannon, Lou (2001), p. 51</ref> About two million abortions would be performed as a result, most because of a provision in the bill allowing abortions for the well-being of the mother.<ref name="Cannon51"/> Reagan had been in office for only four months when he signed the bill, and stated that had he been more experienced as governor, it would not have been signed. After he recognized what he called the "consequences" of the bill, he announced that he was ].<ref name="Cannon51"/> He maintained that position later in his political career, ].<ref>Reagan, Ronald. (1984) ''''. Nashville: T. Nelson. ISBN 0840741162 </ref> | |||
| Reagan was re-elected in 1970, defeating "Big Daddy" ], but chose not to seek a third term. One of Reagan's greatest frustrations in office concerned ], which he strongly supported.<ref name= "Rest of Me"/> His efforts to enforce the state's laws in this area were thwarted when the ] issued its '']'' decision, which invalidated all death sentences issued in California prior to 1972, though the decision was later overturned by a constitutional amendment. The only execution during Reagan's governorship was on ], ], when Aaron Mitchell's sentence was carried out by the state in ] gas chamber.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Seneker, Carl J.|title=Governor Reagan and Executive Clemency|journal=California Law Review|volume=55|issue=2|pages=412-418|publisher=JSTOR|date=May 1967|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0008-1221(196705)55%3A2%3C412%3AGRAEC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M|doi=10.2307/3479351|accessdate =2007-11-12}}</ref> | |||
| Reagan's terms as governor helped to shape the policies he would pursue in his later political career as president. By campaigning on a platform of sending "the welfare bums back to work," he spoke out against the idea of the welfare state. He also strongly advocated the Republican ideal of less government regulation of the economy, including that of undue federal taxation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/7092/reagan_economic_legacy.html|title=The Reagan Economic Legacy|accessdate= 2007-08-22|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|date=June 9, 2004|author=Kubarych, Roger M.}}</ref> | |||
| === 1976 presidential campaign === | |||
| ] | |||
| In 1976, Reagan challenged incumbent President ] in a bid to become the Republican Party's candidate for president. Reagan soon established himself as the conservative candidate; like-minded organizations such as the ] became the key components of his political base, while President Ford was considered a more moderate Republican.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gf38.html|title=Biography of Gerald R. Ford|publisher=The White House|accessdate= 2007-03-29}} Ford considered himself a "a moderate in domestic affairs, a conservative in fiscal affairs, and a dyed-in-the-wool internationalist in foreign affairs".</ref> He relied on a strategy crafted by campaign manager ] of winning a few primaries early to seriously damage the lift-off of Ford's campaign, such as his victories in North Carolina, Texas, and California, but the strategy disintegrated. Reagan ended up losing New Hampshire and later Florida.<ref name="1976 Results">{{cite web |url= http://www.politicallibrary.org/TallState/1976rep.html|title=1976 New Hampshire presidential Primary, February 24, 1976 Republican Results|publisher=New Hampshire Political Library|accessdate=2007-03-30}}</ref> | |||
| As the party's ] in ] neared, Ford appeared close to victory. Acknowledging his party's moderate wing, Reagan chose moderate Republican Senator ] of ] as his running mate. Nonetheless, Ford narrowly won, with 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070.<ref name="1976 Results"/> | |||
| Reagan's concession speech emphasized the dangers of nuclear war and the threat posed by the Soviet Union. Although he lost the nomination, he received 307 write-in votes in New Hampshire, 388 votes as an Independent on Wyoming's ballot, and a single electoral vote from a Washington State "]" in the November election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/scores.html#1976|title=Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996|accessdate= 2007-04-30|publisher= U.S. National Archives and Records Admin.}}</ref> Ford went on to lose the 1976 presidential election to the Democratic challenger ]. | |||
| === 1980 presidential campaign === | |||
| {{main|United States presidential election, 1980}} | |||
| ] ] (right) in South Carolina, 1980]] | |||
| The 1980 presidential campaign was conducted during domestic concerns as well as the ongoing ]. After receiving the Republican nomination, Reagan challenged incumbent President Jimmy Carter. His showing in the ] boosted his campaign, and he selected one of his primary opponents, ], to be his running mate. | |||
| On ], ], Reagan delivered a prominent speech near ]. He announced, "I believe in ]. I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment."<ref>Kneeland, Douglas E. (August 4, 1980) "Reagan Campaigns at Mississippi Fair; Nominee Tells Crowd of 10,000 He Is Backing States' Rights." ''The New York Times''. p. A11. Retrieved on 2008-01-01</ref> He went on to promise to "restore to states and local governments the power that properly belongs to them." Philadelphia was the scene of the June 21, 1964 murder of three civil rights workers, and Reagan's critics alleged that the presidential candidate was making use of the ], signaling a racist message to his audience.<ref>Herbert, Bob (October 6, 2005) "Impossible, Ridiculous, Repugnant." ''The New York Times''. p. 24. Retrieved on 2008-01-01</ref> | |||
| Reagan won the election, carrying 44 states with 489 electoral votes to 49 electoral votes for Carter (representing six states and Washington, D.C.). Reagan won 50.7% of the popular vote while Carter took 41%, and Independent ] (a liberal Republican) received 6.7%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1980|title=1980 Presidential Election Results|publisher=Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections | accessdate=2007-03-28}}</ref> ] for the first time since 1952, and ], but the Democrats retained a majority. | |||
| == Presidency, 1981–1989 == | |||
| {{main|Presidency of Ronald Reagan}} | |||
| During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan pursued policies that reflected his personal belief in individual freedom, brought changes domestically, both to the ] and expanded military, and contributed to the end of the ].<ref name="Freidel84">Freidel, Frank (1995), p. 84</ref> The "Reagan Revolution," proponents claimed, would reinvigorate American morale, and reduce the people's reliance upon government.<ref name="Freidel84"/> As president, Reagan kept a series of diaries in which he commented about daily occurrences of his presidency and his views on current issues, frequently mentioning his wife, ]. The diaries were published in May 2007 into the bestselling book, '']''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Reagan, Ronald|url=http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060876005/The_Reagan_Diaries/index.aspx|title=The Reagan Diaries|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=006087600X|year=2007|accessdate=2007-06-05}}</ref> | |||
| ===First term, 1981–1985=== | |||
| ] to the ], right after the president's inauguration]] | |||
| In his ] on ], ], which Reagan himself wrote,<ref>Murray, Robert K. and Tim H. Blessing (1993); p. 80</ref> he addressed the country's economic malaise arguing: "Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem." | |||
| The Reagan Presidency began in a dramatic manner: just 30 minutes into his inaugural address, ] were set free.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h2021.html|title=Iran Hostage Crisis: November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981|accessdate= 2007-05-11|year=2005|publisher=Online Highways}}</ref> | |||
| ====Assassination attempt==== | |||
| {{main|Reagan assassination attempt}} | |||
| On ], ], only 69 days into the new administration, Reagan, his press secretary ], and two others were struck by gunfire from a deranged would-be assassin, ] Missing Reagan’s heart by less than one inch<ref name="pbs attempt">{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/timeline/index_3.html|title=Ronald Reagan's Life, 1979-1982|accessdate=2008-01-14|publisher=PBS}}</ref> the bullet instead pierced his left lung, causing it to collapse.<ref name="pbs attempt"/> In the operating room, Reagan joked to the surgeons, "I hope you're all Republicans!"<ref name="NoonanPBS">{{cite web |url= http://www.pbs.org/newshour/character/essays/reagan.html|author=Noonan, Peggy.|title=Character Above All: Ronald Reagan essay|publisher=PBS|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> Though they were not, Dr. Joseph Giordano replied, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans," and when ] came to see him he famously told her, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (using defeated boxer ]'s quip).<ref name="NoonanPBS"/> Reagan was released from the hospital on April 11. | |||
| ====Air traffic controllers' strike==== | |||
| {{main|Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968)|}} | |||
| Only a short time into his administration ], violating a regulation prohibiting Government unions from striking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH37/Pels.html|title=The Pressures of PATCO: Strikes and Stress in the 1980s|accessdate= 2007-04-30|author=Pels, Rebecca.|year=1995|publisher=University of Virginia}}</ref> Declaring the situation an emergency as described in the 1947 ], Reagan held a press conference in the ], where he stated that if the air traffic controllers "do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1981/80381a.htm|title=Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session With Reporters on the Air Traffic Controllers Strike|accessdate= 2007-05-13|year=1981|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation}}</ref> On ], ], Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order to return to work,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962487,00.html|title=Unhappy Again |work=Time|date=October 6, 1986|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> essentially breaking the union.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.unions08jun08,0,1761456.story?coll=bal-business-headlines|title=Reagan presidency pivotal for unions|date=June 8, 2004|accessdate=2007-12-28|author=Hirsch, Stacy.|work=The Baltimore Sun}}</ref> | |||
| ===="Reaganomics" and the economy==== | |||
| {{main|Reaganomics}} | |||
| ] | |||
| When Reagan entered office, the American economy's ] rate stood at 11.83%, and ] at 7.1%. Reagan implemented policies based on ] and advocated a ''laissez-faire'' philosophy,<ref>Karaagac, John (2000), pp. 113</ref> seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board ].<ref name="Cannon99">Cannon, Lou (2001) p. 99</ref><ref name="Appleby923924">Appleby, Joyce (2003), pp. 923–924</ref> He aimed to reduce the growth of domestic government spending, cut back on excess regulation, and institute a sound currency policy which would end inflation;<ref name="Reaganomics">{{cite web |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Reaganomics.html|title=Reaganomics|accessdate= 2007-05-22|author=Niskanen, William A.|publisher=The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics}}</ref> his approach was a departure from his immediate predecessors.<ref name="Reaganomics"/> The economic policy, dubbed "]", was the subject of debate, with supporters pointing to improvements in certain key economic indicators as evidence of success, and critics pointing to large increases in federal budget deficits and the national debt. His policy of "]" resulted in a record peacetime defense buildup, including a 40% real increase in defense spending between 1981 and 1985.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Bartels, Larry M.|title=Constituency Opinion and Congressional Policy Making: The Reagan Defense Build Up|journal=The American Political Science Review|year=1991|volume=85|issue=2|pages= 457-474}}</ref> | |||
| During Reagan's tenure, ] were lowered significantly,<ref>{{cite web|author=Mitchell, Daniel J. Ph.D.|url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/BG1086.cfm|title=The Historical Lessons of Lower Tax Rates|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|date = July 19, 1996|accessdate=2007-05-22}}</ref> although effective payroll tax rates increased.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/taxRates.html|title=Social Security & Medicare Tax Rates|publisher=Social Security Administration|date=December 23, 2002|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> Real ] (GDP) growth recovered strongly after the 1982 recession and grew during Reagan's eight years in office at an annual rate of 3.4% per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bea.gov/national/xls/gdpchg.xls|format=Excel|title=Gross Domestic Product|publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis|date=July 27, 2007|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> Unemployment peaked at 10.8% percent in December 1982 (higher than at any time since the Great Depression), then dropped during the rest of Reagan's presidency,<ref name="Appleby923924"/> while employment increased by 16 million, and inflation significantly decreased.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560259_2/Ronald_Reagan.html|title=Ronald Reagan|publisher=Microsoft Corporation|date=2007|accessdate=2007-07-27}}</ref> The net effect of all Reagan-era tax bills resulted in a 1% decrease of government revenues.<ref>{{cite journal|publisher=United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis|title=Revenue Effects of Major Tax Bills|date=2003, rev. Sept 2006|url=http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/tax-policy/library/ota81.pdf|id=Working Paper 81, Table 2|accessdate=2007-11-28}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low enough to spur investment,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/SupplySideEconomics.html|title=Supply-Side Economics|author=Gwartney, James D.|Publisher= The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref> which would then lead to increased economic growth, higher employment and wages. Critics labeled this "]" — the belief that tax policies that benefit the wealthy will create a "trickle-down" effect to the poor.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/economy/jan-june04/reagan_6-10-04.html|date=June 10, 2004|title=Reaganomics|accessdate=2007-08-21|publisher=PBS}}</ref> Questions arose of whether Reagan's policies benefitted the wealthy more than those living in poverty,<ref name=AmericanDreamer>{{cite news|author=Meacham, Jon.|coauthors=Andrew Murr, Eleanor Clift, Tamara Lipper, Karen Breslau and Jennifer Ordonez|work=Newsweek|publisher=Simon & Schuster, located in ''Ronald Reagan Remembered'' by CBS News|title=American Dreamer|accessdate=2008-01-23|date=June 14, 2004}}</ref> and Reagan was seen as indifferent to many poor and minority citizens.<ref name=AmericanDreamer/> | |||
| The administration's stance toward the Savings and Loan industry contributed to the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.econlib.org/Library/Enc/SavingsandLoanCrisis.html|title=Savings and Loan Crisis|accessdate=2007-08-17|publisher=Liberty Fund, Inc.|author=Ely, Bert.}}</ref> It is also suggested, by a minority of Reaganomics critics, that the policies partially influenced the ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2633/is_4_15/ai_76994290/pg_3|title=Strong Dollar, Weak Policy|accessdate= 2007-08-17|work=The International Economy|author=Bergsten, C. Fred.|format=Reprint}}</ref> but there is no consensus regarding a single source for the crash.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Sornette, Didier; Johansen, Anders; & Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe|title=Stock Market Crashes, Precursors and Replicas|journal=Journal de Physique I|year=1996|volume=6|issue=1| pages=167-175}}</ref> In order to cover newly-spawned federal budget deficits, the ] borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the ] from $700 billion to $3 trillion.<ref name="Cannon128">Cannon, Lou (2001) p. 128</ref> Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.<ref name="Cannon128"/> | |||
| He reappointed ] as ], and in 1987 appointed monetarist ] to succeed him. Some economists, such as ] winners ] and ], argue that Reagan's tax policies invigorated America's economy and contributed to the economic boom of the 1990s.<ref name="Reagan's Economic Legacy"/> Other economists, such as Nobel Prize winner ], argue that the deficits were a major reason why Reagan's successor, ], ] and raised taxes.<ref name="Reagan's Economic Legacy">{{cite news||url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_25/b3888032_mz011.htm|title=Reagan's Economic Legacy|accessdate= 2007-07-01|work=Business Week|date=June 21, 2004}}</ref> | |||
| ====War on Drugs==== | |||
| Midway into his second term, Reagan declared more militant policies in the "]". He said that "drugs were menacing our society" and promised to fight for drug-free schools and workplaces, expanded drug treatment, stronger law enforcement and drug interdiction efforts, and greater public awareness.<ref>{{cite news|author=Lamar, Jacob V., Jr.|title=Rolling Out the Big Guns|work=Time|date=September 22, 1986|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962371-1,00.html|accessdate=2007-08-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://academic.udayton.edu/race/03justice/crime09.htm|title=The Drug War as Race War|accessdate=2007-04-11|author=Randall, Vernellia R.|date=April 18, 2006|publisher=The University of Dayton School of Law}}</ref> On ], ], President Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill into law that budgeted $1.7 billion dollars to fund the War on Drugs and specified a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses.<ref name="PBS Frontline">{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/cron/|title=Thirty Years of America's Drug War|publisher=|accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref> | |||
| The bill was criticized for promoting significant racial disparities in the prison population, because of the differences in sentencing for ] versus powder ].<ref name="PBS Frontline"/> Critics also charged that the administration's policies did little to actually reduce the availability of drugs or crime on the street, while resulting in a great financial and human cost for American society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/341/reagan.shtml|publisher=Drug Reform Coordination Network|title=The Reagan-Era Drug War Legacy|date=June 11, 2004|accessdate= 2007-04-04}}</ref> Defenders of the effort point to success in reducing rates of adolescent drug use.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html|title=NIDA InfoFacts: High School and Youth Trends|publisher=National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH|accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/interviews/kleber.html|title=Interview: Dr. Herbert Kleber|accessdate=2007-06-12|publisher=PBS|quote=The politics of the Reagan years and the Bush years probably made it somewhat harder to get treatment expanded, but at the same time, it probably had a good effect in terms of decreasing initiation and use. For example, marijuana went from thirty-three percent of high-school seniors in 1980 to twelve percent in 1991.}}</ref> | |||
| ] ] made the War on Drugs one of her main priorities by founding the "]" drug awareness campaign, which aimed to discourage children and teenagers from engaging in ] by offering various ways of saying "no." Mrs. Reagan traveled to 65 cities in 33 states, raising awareness about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4297405/|title=The 'just say no' first lady|publisher=MSNBC|date=February 18, 2004|accessdate=2007-06-24}}</ref> | |||
| ====Judiciary==== | |||
| During his 1980 campaign, Reagan pledged that, if given the opportunity, he would appoint the first female Supreme Court Justice.<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 280</ref> That opportunity came in his first year in office when he nominated ] to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice ]. In his second term, Reagan elevated ] to succeed ] as ], and named ] to fill the vacant seat. However, in 1987, Reagan lost a significant political battle when the Senate rejected the nomination of ],<ref>{{cite news|author=Greenhouse, Linda.|title=Bork's Nomination Is Rejected, 58-42; Reagan 'Saddened'|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/24/politics/24REAG.html|work=The New York Times|date=October 24, 1987|accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> but ] was eventually confirmed in his place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/kennedy.htm|title=Anthony M. Kennedy|accessdate= 2007-11-12|year=1999|publisher=Supreme Court Historical Society}}</ref> | |||
| ====Lebanon and Grenada, 1983==== | |||
| {{main|Beirut barracks bombing|Invasion of Grenada}} | |||
| ] of ] in the ] about ongoing events in ]]] | |||
| American peacekeeping forces in ], a part of ] (MNF) during the ], were attacked on ], ]. The ], in which 241 American servicemen were killed by suicide bombers, was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the ], and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the first day of the ]. Reagan called the attack "despicable," pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon, and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in ], Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training ] fighters,<ref>{{cite paper|title=Anne Dammarell et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran|url=http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/01-2224.pdf|format=PDF|author=Bates, John D. (Presiding)|date=September 2003|location=District of Columbia, U.S.|publisher= The United States District Court for the District of Columbia|accessdate = 2006-09-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/XX/MidEast/Lebanon-1982-1984/DOD-Report/Beirut-8.html|title=Report on the DoD Commission on Beirut International Airport Terrorist Act, October 23, 1983|publisher=HyperWar Foundation|date=December 20, 1983|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> but the mission was later aborted by Defense Secretary ]. Besides a few shellings, there was no serious American retaliation, and the Marines were moved offshore where they could not be targeted. On ], 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. This was completed on ]: the rest of the MNF was withdrawn by April. | |||
| Two days later, U.S. forces invaded ], where a 1979 '']'' had established a ] government aligned with the Soviet Union and Cuba. The Grenadan government began military expansion and construction of an international airport with Cuban assistance. On ], 1983, a faction led by Deputy Prime Minister ] seized power. A formal appeal from the ] (OECS) led to the intervention of U.S. forces; President Reagan also cited the regional threat posed by a Soviet-Cuban military build-up in the Caribbean and concern for the safety of several hundred American medical students at St. George's University as adequate reasons to invade. On ], 1983, in the first major operation conducted by the U.S. military since the ], several days of fighting commenced, and led to U.S. victory,<ref name= "Invasion of Grenada">{{cite web|publisher=Defense Technical Information Center|url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/history/urgfury.pdf|format=PDF|title= Operation Agent Fury|accessdate=2007-03-09}}</ref> with 19 American fatalities and 116 wounded American soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cooper, Tom.|url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_159.shtml|title=Grenada, 1983: Operation 'Urgent Fury'|date=September 1, 2003|accessdate=2007-04-08|publisher=Air Combat Information Group}}</ref> In mid-December, after a new government was appointed by the Governor-General, U.S. forces withdrew.<ref name="Invasion of Grenada"/> | |||
| ===1984 presidential campaign=== | |||
| {{main|United States presidential election, 1984}} | |||
| ], and ]]] | |||
| Reagan accepted the Republican nomination in ], on a wave of positive feeling bolstered by the recovering economy and the dominating performance by the U.S. athletes at the ] that summer. He became the first American president to open a summer Olympic Games held in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sok.se/inenglish/losangeles1984.4.18ea16851076df63622800011008.html|title=Los Angeles 1984|publisher=Swedish Olympic Committee|accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref> | |||
| Reagan's opponent in the ] was former Vice President ]. With questions about Reagan's age, and a weak performance in the first presidential debate, many wondered if he was up to the task of being president for another term.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/editors200410040912.asp|title=The Debate: Mondale vs. Reagan|work=National Review|date=October 4, 2004|accessdate=2007-05-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/newshour/84_1stprez-analysis.html|title=Reaction to first Mondale/Reagan debate|publisher=PBS|date=October 8, 1984|accessdate=2007-12-31}}</ref> Reagan rebounded in the second debate, and confronted questions about his age, stating, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," which generated applause and laughter from members of the audience, and even from Mondale himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/debates/history/1984/|title=1984 Presidential Debates|publisher=CNN|accessdate=2007-05-25}}</ref> | |||
| In the ], Reagan was re-elected, winning 49 of 50 states.<ref name="84 results"/> The president's landslide victory saw Mondale carry only his home state of Minnesota (by 3800 votes) and the District of Columbia. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes total (of 538 possible), and received 58.8% of the popular vote to Mondale's 40.6%.<ref name="84 results">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1984|title=1984 Presidential Election Results|publisher=David Leip|accessdate=2007-05-25}}</ref> | |||
| ===Second term, 1985–1989=== | |||
| ] | |||
| Reagan was sworn in as president for the second time on ], ], in a private ceremony at the ]. The public ceremony took place in the ] the next day, because ] fell on a Sunday, and thus no public celebration was held. ] was one of the coldest days on record in ], and due to the low temperatures and large snowfall the night before, inaugural celebrations were held inside the Capitol. | |||
| On ], ], Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon, causing the first-ever invocation of the acting president clause of the ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hnn.us/articles/812.html|title=What is the 25th Amendment and When Has It Been Invoked?|publisher=History News Network|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> and on ], ], Reagan underwent surgery for prostate cancer which caused further worries about his health. At the time, the president was 76 years old. | |||
| In 1985, Reagan visited a German military cemetery in ] to lay a wreath with West German Chancellor ], but it was found that the cemetery held the graves of 49 members of the ]. In advance of the visit, many prominent U.S. government officials, veterans, Jewish leaders, Holocaust survivors, 95 Republican and 215 Democratic members of Congress, even First Lady Nancy Reagan protested and called on Reagan to cancel the visit,<ref>Reeves, Richard (2005), p. 249</ref> but the president argued that it would be wrong to back down on a promise he had made to Chancellor Kohl. Reagan issued a statement that called the Nazi soldiers buried in that cemetery "victims" and some say equated them with victims of the Holocaust, but ], Director of Communications under Reagan, argues: "President Reagan never equated SS troops and camp victims. He equated the teenage boys Hitler put in uniform and sent to certain death at war's end with concentration camp victims."<ref>{{cite web|author=Buchanan, Pat.|url=http://www.buchanan.org/pma-99-1105-wallstjl.html|title=Pat Buchanan's Response to Norman Podhoretz's OP-ED|publisher=The Internet Brigade|date=1999|accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> In the end, Reagan attended the ceremony where two military generals laid the wreath, as was customary.<ref>Reeves, Richard (2005) p. 255</ref> In 1983, he told prominent Jews — notably Prime Minister ] of Israel, ], and Rabbi ] of ] — of his personal experience ''vis-à-vis'' the ], saying "I was there," and that that he had assisted at the liberation of Nazi death camps. He was in a film unit in Hollywood that processed raw footage it received from Europe for newsreels, but was not in Europe during the war.<ref>Morris, Edmund (1999), p. 113</ref> | |||
| The Reagan administration was criticized for its slow response to the ]-] epidemic, and for the president's controversial refusal to say the term "AIDS" in public for several years, until the illness of movie star and national icon ] became public news in July 1985. By that time, over 10,000 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and over 6,000 had died.<ref>{{cite web|author=Osmond, Dennis H.|url=http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-01-03#S1.4X|title=Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the United States|publisher=University of California San Francisco|date=March 2003|accessdate=2007-05-26}}</ref> | |||
| ====Immigration==== | |||
| In 1986, Reagan signed the ] (IRCA). The act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit ], required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status, and granted ] to approximately 3 million illegal immigrants who entered the United States prior to ], 1982 and lived there continuously. Critics of the act claim that its laws subjecting employers to sanctions were without teeth and that it failed to stem illegal immigration.<ref>{{cite news|author=Graham, Otis.|date=January 27, 2003|url=http://www.otisgraham.com/otis_graham_writings/art_ronald_reagans_big_mistake.html | title=Ronald Reagan's Big Mistake|work=The American Conservative|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> Upon signing the act at a ceremony held beside the newly refurbished ], Reagan said, "The legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. Very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and, ultimately, if they choose, they may become Americans."<ref>Reagan, Ronald. (November 6, 1986) Collected Speeches, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
| ====Iran-Contra Affair==== | |||
| {{main|Iran-Contra Affair|Reagan administration scandals}} | |||
| ] | |||
| In 1986, the ] (ICJ) ] the Reagan Administration to have illegally sold arms to ] to fund the ] in ], which had been specifically outlawed by an act of Congress.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/reagan.years/whitehouse/iran.html|title=The Iran Contra scandal|date=2001|accessdate=2007-08-14}}</ref> The ] became the largest ] in the United States during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news|author=Parry, Robert.|title=NYT's apologies miss the point|publisher=The Consortium for Independent Journalism, Inc.|date=June 2, 2004|url=http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/060204.html|accessdate=2007-04-01}}</ref> President Reagan professed ignorance of the plot's existence and quickly called for an Independent Counsel to investigate, but while the arms sales and hostage releases were going on, Reagan allegedly signed a presidential finding authorizing the actions after they had already begun.<ref>{{cite news|title=Witness Says Poindexter Did Not Hide Missile Deal Iran-Contra: But CIA official testifies former White House aide omitted facts during briefing of lawmakers|author=Jackson, Robert L.|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 24, 1990}}</ref> The ICJ, whose jurisdiction to decide the case was disputed,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Morrison, Fred L.|title=Legal Issues in The Nicaragua Opinion|journal=American Journal of International Law|date=January 1987|volume=81|pages=160-166|url=http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/55750.html}}</ref> ruled that the U.S. had violated international law in Nicaragua due to its treaty obligations and the customary obligations of international law not to intervene in the affairs of other states.<ref>{{cite news|title=Managua wants $1B from US; demand would follow word court ruling|work=Associated Press|publisher=''The Boston Globe''|date=June 29, 1986}}</ref> | |||
| Reagan appointed two Republicans and one Democrat (], ] and ], known as the "Tower Commission") to investigate the scandal. The commission could not find direct evidence that Reagan had prior knowledge of the program, but criticized him heavily for his disengagement from managing his staff, thus making the diversion of funds to the Contras possible.<ref name="mixed WH">{{cite web|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/213195.stm|title=Reagan's mixed White House legacy|date=2004|accessdate=2007-08-19}}</ref> A separate report by Congress concluded that "If the president did not know what his national security advisers were doing, he should have."<ref name="mixed WH"/> Reagan's popularity declined from 67 percent to 46 percent in less than a week, the greatest and quickest decline ever for a president.<ref>Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus. (1988) ''Landslide: The Unmaking of The President, 1984-1988''. Houghton Mifflin, p.292 and 437</ref> | |||
| Fourteen individuals who were directly involved in the illegal activity were indicted, resulting in eleven convictions (both plea agreements and trial convictions).<ref>{{cite news|work=Business Week|url=http://www.businessweek.com/1997/25/b353254.htm|title=Pointing a Finger at Reagan|date=1997|accessdate=2007-08-23}}</ref> ] ] was indicted for perjury, but received a pardon from then-President George H.W. Bush during the last month of his presidency. At the same time, President Bush pardoned five others, four of whom had already pleaded guilty or had been convicted.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Federation of American Scientists|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm|title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters|date=1993|accessdate=2007-08-23}}</ref> In 2006, a survey of presidential historians ranked the Iran-Contra affair as the ninth worst mistake by a U.S. president.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060218/presidential_errors_060218/20060218?hub=World|title=U.S. historians pick top 10 presidential errors|publisher=CTV Globe Media|work=Associated Press|date=February 18, 2006|accessdate=2007-04-09}}</ref> | |||
| Many Central Americans criticize Reagan for his support of the Contras, saying he was an anti-communist zealot, blinded to human rights abuses, while many others say he "saved Central America."<ref name="CA">{{cite news|author=Sullivan, Kevin and Mary Jordan.|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29546-2004Jun9.html|title=In Central America, Reagan Remains A Polarizing Figure|work=The Washington Post|date=June 10, 2004|accessdate=2007-06-18}}</ref> ], ] president of ] from 1979 to 1990, said that he hoped God would forgive Reagan for his "dirty war against Nicaragua."<ref name="CA"/> | |||
| ====Cold War==== | |||
| {{see|Cold War}} | |||
| ], predicts Marxism-Leninism will be left on the ash-heap of history.<ref>{{cite web|author=Reagan, Ronald.|year=June 8, 1982|url=http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-parliament.htm|title=Ronald Reagan Address to British Parliament|publisher=The History Place|accessdate=2006-04-19}}</ref>]] | |||
| Reagan escalated the ], accelerating a reversal from the policy of ] which began in 1979 following the ].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.event_summary&event_id=12594|title=Towards an International History of the War in Afghanistan, 1979-89|accessdate=2007-05-16|year= 2002|publisher=The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars}}</ref> The Reagan Administration implemented new policies towards the ]: reviving the ] program that had been canceled by the ], and producing the MX "Peacekeeper" missile.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/icbm/lgm-118.htm|title=LGM-118A Peacekeeper|accessdate=2007-04-10|date=August 15, 2000|publisher=Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> In response to Soviet deployment of the ], Reagan oversaw ]'s deployment of the ] in West Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/coll_cmd/introduction.cfm?navinfo=14565|title=Cold War Generals: The Warsaw Pact Committee of Defense Ministers, 1969–90|author=Nünlist, Christian.|accessdate=2007-04-10|year=2000–2007|publisher=Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security}}</ref> | |||
| One of Reagan's more controversial proposals was the ] (SDI), a defense project<ref name="ShieldSpace?"/> that would have used ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles.<ref name= "SDI">{{cite web|author=Adelman, Ken.|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91361,00.html|title=SDI:The Next Generation|publisher=Fox News|date=July 8, 2003|accessdate=2007-03-15}}</ref> Reagan believed that this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible,<ref name="ShieldSpace?">{{cite web |url=http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft4q2nb3c4&chunk.id=d0e5097&toc.id=d0e5097&brand=eschol|title=Deploy or Perish: SDI and Domestic Politics|accessdate=2007-04-10|publisher= Scholarship Editions}}</ref><ref>Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 293</ref> but disbelief that the technology could ever work led opponents to dub SDI "Star Wars," and argue that the technological objective was unattainable.<ref name="ShieldSpace?"/> The Soviets became concerned about the possible effects SDI would have,<ref name= "PBS"/> and leader ] said it would put "the entire world in jeopardy."<ref name="Beschloss294">Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 294</ref> For those reasons, ], former aide to President Reagan, believes that in retrospect, SDI hastened the end of the Cold War.<ref>{{cite video|people=Thomas, Rhys (Writer/Producer)|year=2005|url=http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=71740|title=The Presidents|medium=Documentary|publisher=A&E Television}}</ref> | |||
| In a famous address on ], ] to the ], Reagan called the Soviet Union an "]" that would be consigned to the "ash heap of history." On ], ], he predicted that communism would collapse, stating, "communism is another sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written."<ref name= "LA Times Obituary 2">{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-reagan,1,4780792.story?page=6&coll=la-news-obituaries&ctrack=1&cset=true|title=Former President Reagan Dies at 93|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=June 6, 2004|accessdate= 2007-03-07}}</ref> After Soviet fighters downed ] on ], ], Reagan labeled the act a "massacre" and declared that the Soviets had turned "against the world and the moral precepts which guide human relations among people everywhere."<ref name="k-air">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/tdih.do?id=2777&action=tdihArticleCategory|title=1983:Korean Airlines flight shot down by Soviet Union|accessdate=2007-04-10|publisher=A&E Television}}</ref> The Reagan administration responded to the incident by suspending all Soviet passenger air service to the United States, and dropped several agreements being negotiated with the Soviets, hurting them financially.<ref name="k-air"/> | |||
| Reagan's foreign policies were criticized variously as aggressive, imperialistic, and known to some as "warmongering."<ref name="PBS">{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/40_reagan/reagan_foreign.html|title=Foreign Affairs: Ronald Reagan|publisher=PBS|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> These events occurred before a reformer, ], rose to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. To confront the USSR's serious economic problems, Gorbachev implemented new policies for openness and reform: '']'' and '']''. | |||
| Reagan displayed humor throughout his presidency, with one notable statement regarding the Cold War. As a sound check prior to his weekly ] address in August 1984, Reagan made the following gaffe as a way to test the microphone: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radio.about.com/od/funradiothingstodo/a/aa060503a.htm|title=Remembering President Reagan For His Humor-A Classic Radio Gaffe|accessdate=2007-01-22|publisher=About, Inc.}}</ref> | |||
| ====End of the Cold War==== | |||
| ], challenging ] to "]!"]] | |||
| By the early 1980s, Moscow had built up a military that had surpassed that of the United States.<ref name="us-ussr"/> Previously, the United States had relied on the qualitative superiority of its weapons to essentially frighten the Soviets, but with Soviet technological advances in the 1980s, the gap between the two nations was narrowed.<ref name="us-ussr">{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/EM27.cfm|title=New Evidence of Moscow's Military Threat|accessdate= 2007-05-13|author=Hamm, Manfred R.|date=June 23, 1983|publisher=The Heritage Foundation}}</ref> With the Soviet military buildup came large budget deficits; as a result, Gorbachev offered major concessions to the United States on the levels of conventional forces, nuclear weapons, and policy in Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5147745/site/newsweek/|title=The Thawing of the Cold War|accessdate=2007-05-14|author=Beschloss, Michael.|year=2007|publisher=MSNBC}}</ref> | |||
| Ronald Reagan recognized the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Gorbachev, and shifted to diplomacy, with a view to encourage the Soviet Leader to go further with his reforms. Gorbachev agreed to meet Reagan in four summit conferences around the world: the first in ], the second in ], the third held in Washington, D.C., along with the fourth summit in ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0DA1F3BF93AA15756C0A96E948260|title=Previous Reagan-Gorbachev Summits|accessdate=2008-01-26|work=The New York Times|date=May 29, 1988}}</ref> Reagan believed that if he could persuade the Soviets to allow for more democracy and free speech, this would lead to reform and the end of Communism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1982reagan1.html|title=Modern History Sourcebook: Ronald Reagan: Evil Empire Speech, June 8, 1982|accessdate=2007-11-15|publisher=Fordham University|date=May 1998}}</ref> | |||
| Speaking at the ], on ], ], Reagan ]: {{cquote|General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, ]!}} | |||
| When Gorbachev visited Washington, D.C. for the third summit in 1987, he and Reagan signed the ] at the White House (they finalized it a year later), which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/inf1.html#treaty|title=INF Treaty|accessdate=2007-05-28|publisher=US State Department}}</ref> | |||
| ] at the White House in 1987]] | |||
| When Reagan visited Moscow for the fourth summit in 1988, he was viewed as a celebrity by Russians. A journalist asked the president if he still considered the Soviet Union the evil empire. "No," he replied, "I was talking about another time, another era."<ref>{{cite web|author=Talbott, Strobe.|work=Time|date=August 5, 1991|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973554-5,00.html|title=The Summit Goodfellas|accessdate=2008-01-26}} </ref> At Gorbachev’s request, Reagan gave a speech on free markets at the ].<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 713</ref> | |||
| In his autobiography '']'', Reagan expressed his optimism about the new direction that they charted, his warm feelings for Gorbachev, and his concern for Gorbachev's safety because he pushed reforms so hard: "I was concerned for his safety," Reagan wrote. "I've still worried about him. How hard and fast can he push reforms without risking his life?"<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 720 </ref> The Berlin Wall was ] and two years later the Soviet Union collapsed. | |||
| ==Post-presidential years, 1989–2004== | |||
| ] the first ever ] at the ] in 1992]] | |||
| For the first five years after the end of Reagan's presidency in 1989, the Reagans traveled from their ] home to the ] in ] every few months. They regularly attended ]<ref name>{{cite news|author=Netburn, Deborah.|title=Agenting for God|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=December 24, 2006|url=http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-dorr52dec24,1,15290.story?coll=la-headlines-magazine|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> and occasionally made appearances on behalf of the Republican Party, including a well-received speech at the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://65.126.3.86/reagan/html/reagan08_17_92.shtml|title=1992 Republican National Convention, Houston|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|date=August 17, 1992|accessdate=2007-03-29 }}</ref> He publicly spoke in favor of a ], a ] requiring a ], and the repeal of the ], which prohibits a president from serving more than two terms.<ref>Reagan, Ronald (1990), p. 726</ref> Reagan's final public speech was on ], ], during a tribute in Washington, D.C., and his last major public appearance was at the funeral of fellow Republican President ] on ], ]. | |||
| In 1992, President Reagan established the ] with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. The award, the highest given by the Reagan Foundation, is presented on a regular basis to one person in the world who has "made monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom worldwide," and who "embodies President Reagan's lifelong belief that one man or woman truly can make a difference."<ref name="RRAward">{{cite web|url=http://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs/cpa/awards.asp|title=The Ronald Reagan Freedom Award|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation|accessdate=2007-03-23}}</ref> The first recipient was former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the most recent (as of February 2007) was former United States President George H.W. Bush.<ref>{{cite news|author=Nguyen, Daisy|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020700141.html|title= Ex-President Bush Receives Reagan Award|work=Associated Press|accessdate=2007-03-23|date=February 7, 2007|publisher=''The Washington Post''}}</ref> When President Reagan was diagnosed with ], Nancy Reagan took on the role of presenting the award on behalf of her husband.<ref name="RRAward"/> | |||
| ===Presidential Library and Museum=== | |||
| {{main|Ronald Reagan Presidential Library}} | |||
| On ], ], the ] was dedicated and opened to the public. At the dedication ceremonies, five presidents were all in attendance, as well as six first ladies, marking the first time five presidents were in the same location together.<ref>{{cite news|title=Four Presidents Join Reagan in Dedicating His Library|work=The New York Times|author=Reinhold, Robert.|November 5, 1991|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1D71738F936A35752C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all}}</ref> The library is the largest of the presidential libraries; notable exhibits include ones on the Reagan's ranch, a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, the limousine that President and Mrs. Reagan used while in the White House, and the actual Boeing 707, '']'', that served President Reagan during his eight years in office. On ], ], after a ] in Washington, D.C., President Reagan was interred on the property, and on ], ], the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation hosted the first 2008 Republican presidential candidates debate at the Library, with Mrs. Reagan in attendance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18466314/|title=Republicans walk tightrope over war in Iraq|accessdate=2007-08-15|author=Johnson, Alex.|publisher=MSNBC|date=May 4, 2007}}</ref> | |||
| ===Alzheimer's disease=== | |||
| ], May 1996]] | |||
| In July 1989, the Reagans took a trip to ], where Reagan was thrown off a horse and taken to a hospital for tests. The Reagans returned to the U.S. and visited the ] where they were told President Reagan had a head concussion and a subdural hematoma, and was subsequently operated on.<ref>Reagan, Nancy (2002), p. 179-180</ref><ref name="alzheimer's"/> Doctors believe that is what hastened the onset of ],<ref name="alzheimer's"/> an incurable neurological disorder which ultimately causes brain cells to die, and something Reagan was diagnosed with in 1994.<ref name="alzheimer's"/> At the age of 83, he ],<ref name="alzheimer's">{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2DF123EF935A35752C1A962958260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=In Poignant Public Letter, Reagan Reveals That He Has Alzheimer's|date=November 6, 1994|accessdate=2007-12-30|work=The New York Times|author=Gordon, Michael R.}}</ref> writing, "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/filmmore/reference/primary/alzheimers.html|title=The Alzheimer's Letter|publisher=PBS|accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref> | |||
| After his diagnosis, there was considerable speculation over whether Reagan had demonstrated symptoms of mental degeneration while in office.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s1126442.htm|title=President Ronald Reagan's Alzheimer's Disease|date=June 7, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-07|publisher=Radio National}}</ref> Former ] ] ] recalls in her book ''Reporting Live'', an "unsettling" interview with the president where "a vacant Reagan barely seemed to realize anyone else was in the room," and that before he "reemerged into alertness" she recalls that "I had come ''that'' close to reporting that Reagan was senile."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=6883|title=Happy Anniversary to the first scheduled presidential press conference|author=Rouse, Robert.|work=The American Chronicle|accessdate=2008-01-07|date=March 15, 2006}}</ref> Reagan would also encounter occasional difficulty recalling names and titles, notably while meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone wherein he repeatedly referred to his Vice President as "Prime Minister Bush."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951325-3,00.html|title=Questions of Age and Competence|work=Time|author=Thomas, Evan|date=October 22, 1984|accessdate=2008-01-07|page=3}}</ref> Reagan's doctors, however, note that he only began exhibiting overt symptoms of the illness in late 1992, several years after he had left office.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE5D61030F936A25755C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|title=The Doctors World; A Recollection of Early Questions About Reagan's Health|author=Altman, Lawrence K., M.D.|date=June 15, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-07}}</ref> His former staff also defended him; Chief of Staff ] considered "ludicrous" the idea of Reagan sleeping during cabinet meetings.<ref>{{cite video|people=Thomas, Rhys (Writer/Producer); Baker, James (Interviewee)|year=2005|url=http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=71740|title=The Presidents|medium=Documentary|publisher=A&E Television}}</ref> | |||
| As the years went on, the disease slowly destroyed his mental capacity and his family decided that he would live in quiet isolation. On ], ], Reagan reached the age of 90, becoming the third former president to do so (the other two being ] and ]).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0101/13/se.01.html|title=Reagan Resting Comfortably After Hip Surgery|date=2001-01-13|accessdate=2007-12-28|publisher=CNN}}</ref> Reagan's public appearances became much less frequent with the progression of the disease. Nancy Reagan told CNN's ] that very few visitors were allowed to see her husband because she felt that "Ronnie would want people to remember him as he was."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/04/lklw.00.html|title= Nancy Reagan Reflects on Ronald|publisher=CNN|date=March 4, 2001|accessdate=2007-04-06}}</ref> Since his diagnosis and death, Mrs. Reagan has become a ] advocate, urging ] and President ] to support federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, something President Bush opposes. Mrs. Reagan has said that she believes that it could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3700015.stm|title=Nancy Reagan plea on stem cells|publisher=BBC|date=May 10, 2004|accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> | |||
| ==Death== | |||
| {{main|Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan}} | |||
| ] to the ]]] | |||
| Reagan died at his home in Bel-Air, California on ], ].<ref name=DrehleReaganDies/> A short time after his death, ] released a statement saying: "My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away after 10 years of Alzheimer's Disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers."<ref name=DrehleReaganDies>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/06/06/AR2005040207455_pf.html|title=Ronald Reagan Dies: 40th President Reshaped American Politics|author=Von Drehle, David.|work=The Washington Post|date=June 6, 2004|accessdate=2007-12-21}}</ref> President ] declared ] a ],<ref>{{cite press release|title=Announcing the Death of Ronald Reagan|publisher=The White House, Office of the Press Secretary|date=June 6, 2004|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040606-1.html|accessdate=2008-01-23}}</ref> and ] came in from around the world.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ronald Reagan: Tributes|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3780501.stm|publisher=BBC|date=June 6, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-23}}</ref> Reagan's body was taken to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California later in the day, where well-wishers paid tribute by laying flowers and American flags in the grass.<ref>{{cite news|author=Leigh, Andrew|date=June 7, 2004|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/leigh200406071201.asp|title=Saying Goodbye in Santa Monica|work=National Review|accessdate=2007-03-09}}</ref> On ], his body was removed and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where a brief family funeral service was held. His body lay in repose in the Library lobby until ]; over 100,000 people viewed the coffin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/08/reagan.main/index.html|title=100,000 file past Reagan's casket|publisher=CNN|date=June 9, 2004|accessdate = 2007-08-15}}</ref> | |||
| On June 9, Reagan's body was flown to Washington D.C. where he became the tenth United States president to ]. In the thirty-four hours that it lay there, 104,684 people filed past the coffin.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.uscapitolpolice.gov/pressreleases/2004/pr_06-11-04.php|title=Lying In State for former President Reagan|date=June 11, 2004|publisher=United States Capitol Police|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> | |||
| On June 11, a ] was conducted in the ], and presided over by President George W. Bush. Eulogies were given by former British Prime Minister ], former Canadian Prime Minister ], and both Presidents Bush. Also in attendance were ], and many world leaders, including British Prime Minister ], German Chancellor ], Italian Prime Minister ], and interim presidents ] of Afghanistan, and ] of Iraq. | |||
| After the funeral service, the Reagan entourage was flown back to California — to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library — where another service was held, and President Reagan was interred.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/05/national/main621238.shtml|title=A Nation Bids Reagan Farewell: Prayer And Recollections At National Funeral For 40th President|date=June 11, 2004|publisher=CBS|work=Associated Press|accessdate=2007-12-21}}</ref> He is the second longest-lived president in U.S. history and was the first United States president to die in the 21st century. His was the first state funeral in the United States since that of President ] in 1973. | |||
| His burial site is inscribed with the words he delivered at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: {{cquote|I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planbproductions.com/postnobills/reagan1.html|title=Ronald Reagan Library Opening|publisher=Plan B Productions|date=November 4, 1991|accessdate=2007-03-23}}</ref>}} | |||
| ==Legacy== | |||
| ] in Bloomington, Minnesota 1982]] | |||
| Reagan's legacy is mixed, with supporters pointing to a more efficient and prosperous economy,<ref>Appleby, Joyce (2003), p. 924</ref> a peaceful end to the Cold War, and a world safer from the threat of nuclear war.<ref>Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 324</ref> Critics argue that his economic policies caused huge budget deficits, quadrupling the United States national debt,<ref name="Cannon128"/> and that the Iran-Contra affair lowered American credibility.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gilman, Larry.|url=http://www.espionageinfo.com/Int-Ke/Iran-Contra-Affair.html|title=Iran-Contra Affair|publisher=Advameg, Inc.|accessdate=2007-08-23}}</ref> | |||
| Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D., President of the ] said that Reagan "helped create a safer, freer world," and said of his economic policies: "He took an America suffering from 'malaise'... and made its citizens believe again in their destiny."<ref>{{cite web|author=Feulner, Edwin J., Ph.D.|url=http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed060904b.cfm|title=The Legacy of Ronald Reagan|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|date=June 9, 2004|accessdate=2007-08-23}}</ref> However, ], co-Director of the ], said that Reagan's "economic policies were mostly a failure,"<ref>{{cite web |author=Weisbrot, Mark.|url=http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0607-09.htm|title=Ronald Reagan's Legacy|publisher=Common Dreams News Center|date=June 7, 2004|accessdate=2007-08-23}}</ref> and Howard Kurtz of '']'' stated that Reagan was "a far more controversial figure in his time than the largely gushing obits on television would suggest."<ref>Kurtz, Howard. . ''The Washington Post'', June 7, 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2005.</ref> | |||
| ===Republican party=== | |||
| Since leaving office, Reagan has become an iconic influence within the Republican party.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmafp/is_200406/ai_kepm482068|title=Two-term president Reagan remains Republican icon|format=Reprint|work=AFP|date=June 2004|accessdate=2008-01-26}}</ref> His policies and beliefs have been frequently invoked by ] following his presidency.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|title=Actor, Governor, President, Icon|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18329-2004Jun5.html|date=June 6, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-26|author=Cannon, Lou|page=A01}}</ref> The current ] are no exception, for they frequently aim to liken themselves to him during the primary debates, even imitating his campaign stategies;<ref name="icon">{{cite news|work=The New York Times|title=The Gipper Gap: In Search of Reagan|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/weekinreview/20broder.html|date=January 20, 2008|accessdate=2008-01-26|author=Broder, John M.}}</ref> Democrat ] compared himself to Reagan as well. It is argued, however, that none of the candidates resemble Reagan.<ref name="icon"/> His daughter Patti Davis quipped, "Where is ] when you need him? 'I knew Ronald Reagan... senator (or governor), you're no Ronald Reagan.'"<ref name="icon"/> '']'' publication argues that enough of the candidates believe in Reagan's "conservative realignment" to potentially continue it.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10498758|title=The Republican crack-up|date=January 10, 2008|accessdate=2008-01-26|work=The Economist}}</ref> | |||
| ]s (Gallup 1981–89)]] | |||
| {| class="prettytable" style="float:left;font-size:90%; background:white <!-- #f5f5f5; aka: "WhiteSmoke"; --> " <!-- reduced font size for fix of 'Zoomed way in' width on IE6. ---> | |||
| |- | |||
| | colspan="4"|'''Ronald Reagan's ]''' | |||
| |- | |||
| ! | Date | |||
| ! | Event | |||
| ! | Approval (%) | |||
| ! | Disapproval (%) | |||
| |- | |||
| | | ] ] | |||
| | | Shot by ] | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 73 | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 19 | |||
| |- | |||
| | | ] ] | |||
| | | High unemployment | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 42 | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 54 | |||
| |- | |||
| | | ] ] | |||
| | | Libya bombing | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 70 | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 26 | |||
| |- | |||
| | | ] ] | |||
| | | Iran-Contra affair | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 44 | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 51 | |||
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| | | ] ] | |||
| | | End of presidency | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | – | |||
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| ! n/a | |||
| ! '''Career Average''' | |||
| ! '''57''' | |||
| ! '''39''' | |||
| |- | |||
| | | ] ] | |||
| | | (Retrospective)<ref>{{cite web| url= http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/poll_reagan010806.html|title=Improving With Age: Reagan Approval Grows Better in Retrospect|author=Sussman, Dalia|date=] |publisher=ABC|accessdate=2007-04-08}}</ref> | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 64 | |||
| | style="text-align: center" | 27 | |||
| |} | |||
| === Popularity === | |||
| Reagan did not have the highest approval ratings as president,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html?printVersion=true|title=How the Presidents Stack Up|work=The Wall Street Journal|accessdate=2007-09-07}}</ref> but his popularity has increased since 1989. A ] February 2001 poll asked respondents to name the greatest president in U.S. history; Reagan came in first, capturing 18% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/02/19/politics/main273106.shtml|title=Reagan Tops Presidential Poll|publisher=CBS|accessdate=2007-09-07}}</ref> In February 2007, another Gallup poll ranked him as number two with 16% of the vote after ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pollingreport.com/wh-hstry.htm|title=Presidents and History|publisher=Polling Report, Inc.|accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> He ranked third with a 72% approval rating in a ] July 2007 poll on presidents who served after ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/post_war_presidents_jfk_ike_reagan_most_popular|title=Post-War Presidents: JFK, Ike, Reagan Most Popular|accessdate=2007-09-19|publisher=Rasmussen Reports, Inc.}}</ref> fifth in an ABC 2000 poll of the public, and ninth in another Rasmussen 2007 poll of Americans. In a ] survey of over 200 historians, however, Reagan ranked sixteenth out of 42.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lw.siena.edu/sri/results/2002/02AugPresidentsSurvey.htm|title=Presidential Survey|accessdate=2007-08-28}}</ref> | |||
| Reagan's ability to connect with the American people<ref name="teflon">{{cite news|work=USA Today|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-06-06-schroeder_x.htm|title=Nothing stuck to 'Teflon President'|date=June 6, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-08|author=Schroeder, Patricia}}</ref> earned him the laudatory moniker "The Great Communicator."<ref>{{cite news|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/reagan.years/communicator/|title='The Great Communicator' strikes chord with public|accessdate=2008-01-08|date=2001}}</ref> Of it, Reagan said "I won the nickname the great communicator. But I never thought it was my style that made a difference — it was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things."<ref>{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=Reagan: The great communicator|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/265509.stm|date=June 5, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-26}}</ref> Reagan earned the nickname "the Teflon President" as well, which meant that public perceptions of him were not tarnished by the negative aspects of his administration.<ref name="kurtz">{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20802-2004Jun6.html|title=15 Years Later, the Remaking of a President|author=Kurtz, Howard.|work=The Washington Post|date=June 7, 2004|accessdate=2008-01-25}}</ref> According to Congresswoman ] and reporter ], the epithet referred to Reagan's ability to "do almost anything <ref name="kurtz"/> and not get blamed for it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=REAGAN-SCHROEDER-06-09-04&cat=WW|title='Teflon' moniker didn't have intended effect on Reagan|accessdate=2008-01-08|work=Howard Scripps News Service|author=Sprengelmeyer, M.E.|date=June 9, 2004}}</ref><ref name="teflon"/> | |||
| === Honors === | |||
| {{see|List of honors named for Ronald Reagan}} | |||
| Reagan received a number of awards in his pre- and post-presidential years. After he was elected president, Reagan received a lifetime gold membership in the Screen Actors Guild, as well as the ]'s ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aogusma.org/aog/awards/TA/awardees.htm|title=Association of Graduates USMA: Sylvanus Thayer Award Recipients|publisher=Association of Graduates, West Point, New York|accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref> | |||
| Reagan received an ] British knighthood, ] in 1989. This entitled him to the use of the post-nominal letters GCB, but did not entitle him to be known as "Sir Ronald Reagan." Only two American presidents have received the honor — Reagan and George H.W. Bush.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4883.asp|title=Order of the Bath|accessdate= 2007-03-22|publisher=The Official Website of the British Monarchy}}</ref> Reagan was also named an honorary Fellow of ]. Japan awarded him the ] in 1989; he is the only American president to have received the award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www8.cao.go.jp/english/decoration/kikka.html|title=Supreme Orders of the Crysanthemum|publisher=Cabinet Office, Government of Japan|accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref> | |||
| On ], ], Reagan's former Vice-President and sitting President George H.W. Bush awarded him the ], the highest honor that the United States can bestow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2889/is_n2_v29/ai_13975210|title=Remarks on presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to President Ronald Reagan-President George Bush-Transcript|publisher=The White House: Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents|accessdate=2007-12-31|date=January 18, 1993}}</ref> Reagan was also awarded the ], the highest honor bestowed by Republican members of the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lebonfante.com/principals1.html|title=Julio E. Bonfante|accessdate=2008-01-26|publisher=LeBonfante International Investors Group}}</ref> | |||
| ] from President George H.W. Bush in 1993]] | |||
| On Reagan's 87th birthday, in ], Washington National Airport was renamed ] by a bill signed into law by President Clinton. Three years later, the ] was christened by Nancy Reagan and the ]. It is one of few Navy ships christened in honor of a living person, and the first ] to be named in honor of a living former president.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/04/sm.06.html|title=USS ''Ronald Reagan'' Commemorates Former President's 90th Birthday|publisher=CNN|accessdate=2008-01-25|date=July 12, 2003}}</ref> Also in 1998, the ] was dedicated in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itcdc.com|title=Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center|publisher=U.S. General Services Administration|accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref> Reagan was among 18 included in ], from a poll conducted of the American people in 1999. | |||
| Congress authorized the creation of the ] in Dixon, Illinois in 2002, pending federal purchase of the property.<ref>{{cite web|format=PDF|url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ137.107.pdf|title=Public Law 107-137|date=February 6, 2002|accessdate=2007-12-31|publisher=United States Government Printing Office}}</ref> On ] of that year, Nancy Reagan accepted the ], the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress, on behalf of the president and herself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html|publisher=Office of the Clerk, US House of Representatives|title=Congressional Gold Medal Recipients 1776 to present|accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref> | |||
| The ] issued a President Ronald Reagan commemorative postage stamp in 2005.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2004/sr04_077.htm|title=Postmaster General, Nancy Reagan unveil Ronald Reagan stamp image, stamp available next year|publisher=USPS |date=November 9, 2004|accessdate=2007-05-13}}</ref> On ], ], along with the editors of '']'' magazine, named him the "most fascinating person" of the network's first 25 years;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/02/cnn25.top.fascinating/index.html|title=Top 25: Fascinating People|publisher=CNN|date=June 19, 2005|accessdate=2005-06-19}}</ref> ''Time'' named Reagan one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century as well.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/time100/index_2000_time100.html|title=Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century|date=2003|work=Time| accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref> The ] asked its viewers to vote for ] in an unscientific poll on ], ]; Reagan received the honorary title.<ref>{{cite web|title=Greatest American|publisher=Discovery Channel|url=http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/greatestamerican/greatestamerican.html|accessdate=2007-03-21}}</ref> | |||
| In 2006, California Governor ] and First Lady ] inducted Reagan into the ], located at ]. The following year, Polish President ] posthumously awarded Reagan the highest Polish distinction, the ].<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.reaganfoundation.org/visitorguide/events/Kaczynski%20media%20rules%207-11-07.pdf|format=PDF|title=President of Poland Lech Kaczynski to present Poland's highest award posthumously to president Reagan|publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation|date=July 12, 2007|accessdate=2007-07-17}}</ref> Reagan backed the nation of ] throughout his presidency, supporting the anti-communist ] movement, along with ].<ref>{{cite web|author=Bernstein, Carl.|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974931,00.html?iid=chix-sphere|title=The Holy Alliance|work=Time|date=February 24, 1992|accessdate=2007-08-18}}</ref> | |||
| ==Footnotes== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| ] | |||
| *{{cite book|last=Appleby|first=Joyce|coauthors=Alan Brinkley, James M. McPherson|title=The American Journey|publisher=Glencoe/McGraw-Hill|date=2003|location=Woodland Hills, California|id = 0078241294 }} | |||
| * Bennett, James. (1987) ''Control of Information in the United States.'' Westport, Connecticut: Meckler Corporation. | |||
| * {{cite book|last = Beschloss|first=Michael|title=Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How they Changed America 1789–1989|year =2007|publisher=Simon & Schuster}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Cannon|first=Lou|authorlink=Lou Cannon|title=President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime|year=2000|publisher= Public Affairs |location= New York |isbn= 1891620916}} | |||
| * {{cite book | title = Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: A History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum | first = Lou | last = Cannon | authorlink = Lou Cannon | coauthors = Michael Beschloss | publisher = PublicAffairs | isbn = 1891620843 | year = 2001}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Conason|first=Joe|title=Big Lies| year=2003 | publisher=Thomas Dunne Books | location=New York | isbn=978-0312315610}} | |||
| * Curry, Richard. (1992) ''Thought Control and Repression in the Reagan-Bush Era.'' Los Angeles, California: First Amendment Foundation. | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Diggins |first= John Patrick |title= Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History | year= 2007| publisher= W. W. Norton |location= New York|isbn= }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Fischer |first= Klaus |title= America in White, Black, and Gray: The Stormy 1960s |year= 2006 | publisher= Continuum |location= London}} | |||
| *{{cite book |last= Freidel |first= Frank |coauthors= Hugh Sidey |title= The Presidents of the United States of America |year= 1995|publisher= White House Historical Association |location= Washington, D.C.|isbn= 0912308575}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Gaddis | first= John Lewis | title= The Cold War: A New History |year= 2005 |publisher= The Penguin Press |location= |isbn= }} | |||
| * {{cite book | last = Karaagac | first = John | title = Ronald Reagan and Conservative Reformism | publisher = Lexington Books | date = 2000 | isbn = }} | |||
| * {{cite book | last = LaFeber | first = Walter | title = America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945–1971 | publisher = Wiley | location = New York | date = 2002 | isbn = }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Matlock |first= Jack |title= Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended |year= 2004 |publisher= Random House |location= New York |isbn=0679463232 }} | |||
| * {{cite book | last = Morris | first = Edmund | title = Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan | year =1999 | publisher = Random House}} includes fictional material | |||
| * {{cite book |author=Murray, Robert K. & Blessing, Tim H. |title= Greatness in the White House|year= 1993| publisher=Penn State Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Reagan |first= Nancy |authorlink= Nancy Reagan |title= I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan | year= 2002| publisher= Random House|location= United States |isbn= 0375760512}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Reagan |first= Nancy |title= My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan | year= 1989| publisher= Random House|location= New York |isbn= }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Reagan|first= Ronald |title= An American Life |year= 1990|publisher= Simon and Schuster|location= New York|isbn= 0743400259}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Reeves |first= Richard |authorlink= Richard Reeves |title= President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination |year= 2005 |publisher= Simon & Schuster |location= New York |isbn= 0743230221}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Regan |first= Donald |authorlink= Donald Regan |title= For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington | year= 1988| publisher= Harcourt|location= New York |isbn=0151639663}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Walsh |first= Kenneth |title= Ronald Reagan |year= 1997 |publisher= Random House Value Publishing, Inc. |location= New York |isbn= 0517200783}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last= Wills |first= Garry |title= Reagan's America: Innocents at Home |year= 1987 | publisher= Doubleday |location= Garden City, New York}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| {{see|Ronald Reagan Bibliography}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{sisterlinks|Ronald Reagan}} | |||
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| *{{imdb name|id=0001654|name=Ronald Reagan}} | |||
| *{{Find A Grave|id=4244}} | |||
| *{{audio|ReaganBeginsBombingRussia.ogg|Reagan's quip about bombing Russia}} | |||
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| {{Ronald Reagan}} | |||
| {{USpresidents}} | |||
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| {{CAGovernors}} | |||
| {{Cold War}} | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME=Reagan, Ronald Wilson | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Ronald Reagan | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION=] ] and ], 33rd Governor of ], 40th ] | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH=] 1911 | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH=], ] | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH=] 2004 | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH=], ], ], ] | |||
| }} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Ronald Wilson}} | |||
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Revision as of 07:48, 28 January 2008
A crazed, mass-murderer who has gone down in history as the worst terrorist the world has known.